The present invention relates generally to communications systems, and more specifically to the delivery of converged voice and data application services to one or more user devices over one or more communications networks.
An integrated voice and data application delivery system is disclosed in the U.S. Patent Application entitled Unified XML Voice and Data Media Converging Switch and Application Delivery System, which was filed on Mar. 26, 2002 and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. The disclosed integrated application delivery system comprises a unified XML-based integrated voice and data media converging switch coupled between at least one first communications network and at least one second communications network. The first network is configured to convey respective voice and data applications, and the second network has one or more user devices communicably coupled thereto that are configured to interact with the voice and data applications on the first network. The switch transfers voice and/or data content between the applications on the first network and respective ones of the user devices on the second network. The disclosed integrated application delivery system further comprises a controller coupled to the switch. The controller employs at least one Finite State Machine (FSM) to control the interaction of the user devices with the voice and data applications. Specifically, the FSM is operative to control the transfer of voice/data signals and content between the respective user devices and the voice and data applications to give users the capability of simultaneously interacting with the applications via one or more user devices. For example, a user may engage in a voice session to interact with an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system via a cell phone while simultaneously engaging in a data session to view related data from a database in a graphical and/or textual presentation format via a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). As a result, the user has increased flexibility in managing his or her interaction with the voice and data applications, thereby achieving enhanced service effectiveness and user satisfaction.
Although the above-described integrated voice and data application delivery system allows users to engage in multiple voice and/or data sessions simultaneously, there is a need for allowing users to switch from one voice or data session to another. Specifically, there is a need for allowing users to switch from receiving information in a first presentation format via one or more first user devices to receiving the information in the same or a different presentation format via the same or one or more different user devices. For example, a user may engage in a voice session with an IVR system to receive information in an audible presentation format via a cell phone. In response to a particular event, e.g., the user may roam outside the service area of the cell phone, the cell phone service may be interrupted. There is a need for allowing the user in the event of such service interruption to switch from the current voice or data session to another session of the same or a different type. In this way, the user can continue receiving the desired voice or data content in the same presentation format or in a different presentation format without suffering a loss of information or a permanent interruption of service.
It would therefore be desirable to have an integrated voice and data application delivery system that is capable of delivering converged voice and data application services to user devices over at least one communications network. Such an integrated application delivery system would allow users to switch between voice and/or data sessions to receive information in the same or a different presentation format, via the same or a different user device, and over the same or a different communications network. It would also be desirable to have an integrated voice and data application delivery system that is capable of optimizing the delivery of voice and/or data content to user devices over communications networks based on the bandwidth of the networks and/or the capacity of the user devices.